Honomu, HI

Honomū is a Hawaii County census-designated place on the Hamakua Coast of Hawaiʻi Island. The 2020 census counted 452 residents. Hawaiʻi Belt Road, Route 19, passes through the community about 11 miles north of Hilo, and Route 220 turns inland toward ʻAkaka Falls State Park. The old village streets, rural homesteads, local farms, and the traffic headed to the waterfall all share a narrow, wet side of the island.

ATTRFamartin / CC BY-SA 4.0

Honomū grew around the sugar industry and the Honomū Sugar Company, whose plantation lands and transportation routes shaped the surrounding district. State planning documents still describe the village as a gateway community for ʻAkaka Falls, but everyday life is more than the road to the park: residents deal with rain, steep gulches, farm work, school and shopping trips to Hilo, and the upkeep of old roads and homes. The state park's short loop trail and 442-foot falls bring visitors through Route 220, while Honomū itself remains a small Hamakua settlement with plantation-era layers under its current rural life.